The decor and design of your child’s bedroom can have significant impact on their mood and overall health. You know how you feel when you walk into a room or wake up looking at your favourite pictures on the wall? Paying attention to the decor details in your child’s room can lead to a great start and positive feelings all day long!

With the right plan and proper guidance, it is possible to design a room that not only looks good, but also addresses the unique needs of every child. In this week’s video, we show you some inexpensive ways to decorate a room for a range of personalities.

Decorating a Room for a Toddler vs. Teenager

We sat down with two parents from Vancouver, Peter Brenner and Anastasia Shade, to chat about their favourite ways to decorate their child’s bedroom. Anastasia has a 3 year old girl who loves to play in her room all day. Peter is a father of four, with kids ranging in ages 7 to 16. His oldest is also a girl who spends most of the day in her room, but at 16 years old, her needs are quite different from Anastasia’s toddler. Watch our latest video for decorating ideas that apply to both!

Design Matters: Colour, Music, Lighting & More!

Once you understand the needs of each age group, it’s time to focus on the fun stuff! Children have varying physical, emotional, and psychological needs at various stages in their lives have. When it comes to the bedroom, various factors contribute to the overall functionality and feel, such as: colour, music, lighting, artwork, electronics, bedding, space, flooring, and organization. The importance of these fundamental components can often be overlooked.

Some Important Tips to Make Your Child’s Bedroom More Relaxing: Colours

The colours in a room can affect a child’s mood, how they process information, and how they function and perform tasks. Colours are as disruptive as sound, scent, texture, etc. We have to be aware of the color of the toys that surround them as well. Colour hues that are blue, green, purple, brown and black are known to be soothing and comforting. Whereas, colour hues such as red, orange, yellow, and white can be overstimulating and highly distracting.

Lighting

Good lighting is a high priority on the list. We recommend filtering light by various means, such as dimmer switches. This is a great soothing mechanisms for any age. Typically the best type of lighting is natural sunlight, however when sunlight is unavailable, the closest to it are incandescent light bulbs, Daylight, Reveal, Full Spectrum, as well as LED’s.

On the flip side, fluorescent light bulbs should not be used, as they contain dangerous levels of mercury. They distort natural colours and strobe at very high frequencies. As they lose power, the strobing lessens and they begin flashing like a camera. The flashing can lead to tiny injuries to the brain that are conducive to headaches, migraines, seizures and more.

Divide the space

If the room isn’t large enough to divide into stations, all the attention should be focused on the room’s primary function: relaxation and sleep. However, if the room is large enough for stations, consider organizing the room into fours different areas: 1) Sleep, 2) Play, 3) Enjoy, and 4) Learn.Flooring

When implementing flooring, it is important to get your child’s input for positive responses or negative reactions. Some of the key factors to consider are practicality and sound absorption, especially for sensory children. If a child prefers slick, smooth surfaces, then natural wood is an excellent option. Avoid choosing laminate floors that resemble wood because they make a lot of noise. Instead, pick from a vast selection of vinyl planks that look like real wood, but are softer and warmer to walk and play on. This flooring type is also easy to maintain and can oﬀer better sound absorption than laminate. If your child prefer soft snuggly textures, carpet is a better option because it is easy to install and replace – however keep in mind that it may attract certain fibres that can result in allergies.

When it comes to flooring, avoid patterned selections or checkerboard eﬀects as this can cause tremendous anxiety for many children. Why? Children may perceive the color changes as holes they can fall into. Also, while porcelain tiles may seem practical to care for, it oﬀers zero sound absorption and can be cold to the touch. It also is a very hard surface in the instance of any falls.

Thanks for Watching!

Get more tips on design and decor in on our latest video, with exclusive tips from Vancouver-based parents on how they cater to the varying needs of their children, from toddlers to teenagers.

I hope that you find this information valuable, and if you have any questions related to decorating a room for children, or anything related to Vancouver Real Estate, contact us here and we will be happy to help!

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